Friday, December 07, 2007

Thursday Talk Time :: Why I LOVE Writing For Blaze with Lori Borrill

I hope y'all are enjoying these 'Why I Love' posts as much as I am. Of course, it could be because I am crazy about category romance, but I so enjoy hearing what sparked authors to fall in love with the line they write for. With us this week is Lori Borrill, who just might have read more Blaze novels than me!Most people who've hung around me long enough know that I didn't start out my writing career targeting Blaze. My focus had been on Desire, primarily because at the time I was entirely intimidated by the thought of writing a book that was 75,000 words long. Like most newcomers, I'd set my sights on one of the shorter lines, feeling I'd have an easier time filling 200 pages instead of 280.

I was aware of the differences in guidelines, story themes, language and such, but like lots of new writers, I'd ignorantly dismissed the importance of tone when it comes to selling to a particular line. And to boil it down, when it came to my voice, me and Desire were like whiskey and cabernet.

If you've read my books, you know I'm not the most poetic writer on the planet. I can't write love scenes in terms of crashing waves, cresting over the horizon and smoothing like velvet over sand of sated breath. Okay, so maybe I could--once. But you aren't going to get a lot of books out of me if I can't ultimately start speaking in a way that comes natural to me, and for me that's pretty blunt, direct, humorous and…well… maybe a little Jack Daniels, if the situation warrants. If it's a duck, I'd prefer to call it a duck and move on instead of spending my afernoon trying to morph it into a feathered, quacking water fowl, IF you get my drift.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "So….Lori Borrill loves writing for Blaze because Blaze lets her say cock?" Well, in a symbolic sort of way, yes. But on a more global sense, it's the line that withdraws from convention and dares to push the boundaries, language only being one of them.

While it was the tone that turned my focus toward Blaze, I've discovered in every other way the line has fit me like a warm, fuzzy glove. You won't find much conservative about Blaze, and for a woman like me who is the product of the bra-burning sixties living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd have a hard time choking out traditional story lines over and over again. At Blaze, the HEA doesn't have to be a wedding ring, the characters don't have to want babies, and the heroes don't have to be millionnaires. Heck, in some cases, the heroes aren't even human, which goes to show how wide the margins have become. The boundaries are endless, and so is the variety you find within the line.

Which is another great thing about Blaze. Really, if you can think it up, it can become a Blaze. I find that very liberating as a writer, particularly since I have the attention span of a gnat, bore easily, and hate to be told "No". Sure, there's a promise to deliver plenty of heat, which is what gives Blaze its continuity across the line, but if I want to pair two coworkers in one book, a sheik and an assassin after that, then a ghost and a waitress next, the editors aren't simply open, they're encouraging.

And in the current world of publishing, how many writers get that?

It was through fate that I ended up writing for Blaze, the natural order of things placing me where I fit best, and now that I'm here, I feel extremely lucky. I can stick with the editor I love all the while sating my need for variety, playing with all different types of characters in as many different settings and not worry about having to hold back.

Oh, and then when I'm done, they hand me a totally delicious cover.

(Sigh) Don't they just? Thanks for joining us Lori. Come back anytime...

For more on Lori and her latest release, be sure to check out her website and her blog, the Sizzling Pens, where Jenna will some day become a pen pal.